Graduation ... Now what?

This is when you acknowledge your world is changing – in a good way. You have spent most of your life in some sort of educational process, which may be the life you know best and where you may feel the most comfortable. While it could seem difficult to leave, what you have in front of you is what you have been preparing for. Below are a few TED talks that will help you acknowledge and address your immediate future. Approach your future with the excitement of opening a new gift - because you are.

Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit

Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure - and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.

Meg Jay: Why 30 is not the new 20

Clinical psychologist Meg Jay has a bold message for twentysomethings: Contrary to popular belief, your 20s are not a throwaway decade. In this provocative talk, Jay says that just because marriage, work and kids are happening later in life, doesn’t mean you can’t start planning now. She gives 3 pieces of advice for how twentysomethings can re-claim adulthood in the defining decade of their lives.

Mark Bezos: A life lesson from a volunteer firefighter

Volunteer firefighter Mark Bezos tells a story of an act of heroism that didn't go quite as expected — but that taught him a big lesson: Don't wait to be a hero.

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.